Longing for a cabin in the woods, Bob and Anita Wagner, of Philadelphia, were drawn to Spafford, where they would build their log home, near Otisco Lake.

"We think this is one of the most beautiful places on earth," said Bob Wagner, who first read about the Finger Lakes area in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1994.

The Wagners, both librarians, came to see the property in the summer of 1995.

"When we walked up to the top of the falls on our property, through the brambles and bushes, I said to my wife, 'what's wrong?' She said, with tears in her eyes, 'I've always wanted a cabin in the woods.'"

The couple bought the nearly 8-acre site with a natural falls and brook in 1996.

"We prepared the property for four years before we started building," Bob said. Serving as the general contractor he built the 1,978-square-foot house using Timber Log Building Systems.

Six-inch, exposed logs create a rustic look on the interior. Sunlight comes into the living room through two skylights, set into the vaulted pine beadboard ceiling. An open balcony on the second floor overlooks the living room below, warmed by a cobblestone-faced, wood-burning fireplace. The cobblestones came from the property and the hand-hewn beam mantel was salvaged from a barn on the property.

The house is located 1239 West Valley Road, near Otisco Valley Road and Sawmill Road.

It's selling for $299,900.

The open study with a railing overlooking the living room provides a quiet setting.

"When I'm up here working, I see deer and a hawk flying by," said Bob, who retired recently as a librarian at Syracuse University's Bird Library. Anita is a co-owner of Polaris Library Systems, a library software company in Liverpool.